The present invention relates to a member, particularly a side member for a vehicle body structure, that is formed by an extruded section made of a light metal which, when viewed in the vertical direction, has at least one hollow-section portion.
From the European Patent Document EP-PS 0 146 716, a body structure for a passenger car is known, the members of which are formed by box-shaped hollow sections made of light metal. The hollow sections are manufactured by the extrusion molding method.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a member of a body structure, particularly a side member arranged adjacent to a vehicle end area, which has a high energy absorption capacity in the event of an impact shock and that also allows an impact absorbing damper of a bumper arrangement to be connected to the side member in a space-saving manner.
This and other objects are achieved by the present invention which provides a member formed by an extruded section made of a light metal and comprises a central tube portion, at least two hollow-section portions arranged on two opposite sides of the tube portion, and diagonally extending webs arranged between the hollow-section portions and the tube portion.
An advantage of the present invention is that by means of the central tube portion, an impact-absorbing damper can be accommodated in the side member in a simple and space-saving manner. Also, by means of the central tube portion and the two outer, approximately square hollow-section portions, a good fold buckling action of the side member is achieved. Thus, in the event of an impact shock, a high energy absorption is achieved.
As a result of the webs between each hollow-section portion and the tube portion which are arranged at approximately a right angle with respect to one another and which are aligned approximately at an angle of 45.degree. with respect to a horizontal auxiliary plane, an operationally appropriate folding-together of the side member is achieved during an impact shock. Because of the continuous tapering of the two lateral boundary edges of the side member in the downward direction, the side members can, in a simple manner, be placed from above into a junction element made of a casting which surrounds them.
The impact-absorbing damper which is inserted into the central tube position extends at a slight radial distance from the exterior tube portion. In the event of a diagonal impact on the side member, a guiding therefore takes place of the impact-absorbing damper through the tube portion.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.